I’ve been having a lot of conversations with my friends about how weird time has felt lately. I think I’ve blinked twice since February and 2024 is in 5 days.
This can be chalked up to many reasons. Studies have shown that time goes by faster as we get older because we fall into routines and quit learning, unlike when we were children. This made sense. However, the reason that seems to have had the greatest effect on our concept of time is the COVID-19 pandemic.
We live in a go-go-go society, always creating, always doing more. To abruptly stop life as we knew it, limiting social interactions, isolating, endless uncertainty, and my favorite… constant panicking were the trends for months that never seemed to end. Existential dread plagued people’s minds from all ends of the earth.
The fear of how you were going to pay bills when people were losing jobs left and right, the cognitive dissonance knowing your job was the least of your priorities, the desire to spend time with loved ones, and the shame you felt when you did. It was a time when nothing felt right, but no one knew what right was. It was a time of mental and emotional exhaustion that changed life as we knew it.
There were positive changes, though, too. People were forced to reflect as we watched time pass by. The focus on spending time with loved ones, experiencing life, and mental health continues to this day.
The conversations I’ve been having and hearing about consist of how it feels to finally come out of this chaotic, terrifying survival fog. So much of our cognitive functions had been working toward trying to predict what was next, trying to find a career that was going to provide in such uncertain economic times, you remember, that now we’re finally able to sit in the present. The time distortion, also referred to as the pandemic skip refers to the gap between our emotional or mental development with our current stage in life.
Many people in their twenties fear they’ve taken too long to “figure things out”. This can be attributed to missing major milestones that help process time. For example, I left for spring break (what feels like) 5 minutes ago and now I’m 3 years out of college. Never having an official graduation to close that door, it took awhile to comprehend that chapter was over. Especially ending school and starting my career remotely. I’m about to turn 26 and still have to catch myself when I start to tell others I’m 23.
It seems like we’re on the upswing from the pause button. I like to call this phase the great reset because, well, we were all compelled to hit pause and rethink what life means to us. It’s like a giant, collective exhale, and I’m eager to see how life continues to unfold with this new outlook.
Shut Up Madi 